North West projects for the Cultural Olympiad

Culture Northwest is delighted to present Neon Attractors – the North West’s first project to be granted the London 2012 Inspire mark as part of the Cultural Olympiad. The North West is leading the way with culture by achieving this national standard of innovation and excellence.

Neon Attractors was specially curated by Culture Northwest for the Cultural Olympiad and combines two light installations: Rabbit_Liverpool Biennial in Toxteth and ThickSpace_FRED near Coniston. The project connects the North and South of the region and establishes a presence for the communities living in outer neighbourhood areas of the North West.

Rabbit_Liverpool Biennial was created from a line drawing by Calvin – a pupil from St Vincent de Paul Primary School in Liverpool as part of Ron Haselden’s ‘Animal’ project. The drawing has been transformed into a coloured neon light artwork measuring six meters in height by seven and a half meters wide and is located on the north façade of St James Church in Toxteth, Liverpool.

ThickSpace_FRED is a large fibre optic cube which the public can enter into by international artists Laura Belevica, Aaron J Robin and Feng Gouchaun. The installation will be suspended from trees in National Trust woodland near Coniston, Cumbria and will be accessible by footpaths.

The two installations which combine to form Neon Attractors can be seen as part of Open Weekend – the official start of the Cultural Olympiad in the UK on 26-28 September 2008. They will also feature as part of other cultural events occurring throughout the region: Rabbit_Liverpool Biennial will feature as part of a series of neon light installations throughout Liverpool named ‘Winter Lights’ as part of the 2008 Liverpool Biennial and ThickSpace_FRED will be a central feature of the Coniston Walking Festival in the Lake District, Cumbria – a new style walking festival combining physical and cultural activity.